


Last Chance

by Oricalle



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Azure Moon Route, Blood and Injury, Drabble, Gen, Spoilers, Wounds, seriously huge spoilers for the end of AM
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23109481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oricalle/pseuds/Oricalle
Summary: With the enemy at the gates of Enbarr and her world unraveling around her, a cornered Emperor Edelgard faces a final choice.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	Last Chance

Edelgard has held her fair share of weapons. From axes to blades, she has become adept at the art of war. She is used to the heft of steel in her hands, the way a grip clangs against her metal pauldrons or bites into her scar-patched hands.

The vial does not feel like a weapon. There is no weight to it, no pressure, no sense of power. Instead of hardened metal or sanded wood, it is made of mere glass. The green liquid that bubbles and churns within is no greater in volume than the sugar she adds to her morning teacup.

But Edelgard knows that she is holding the deadliest weapon of all.

“It is complete, _Your Majesty_.”

She cannot see the face of the man standing before her, with the dark hood that casts it in shadow, but she can hear him sneering. “And it seems not a moment too soon. The armies of Faerghus are at the castle gates.”

Edelgard frowns. “We must trust Hubert to buy us more time to erect defenses.” She thinks of her oldest friend, and nearly prays to the Goddess before remembering she numbers amongst their enemies.

The hooded sorcerer, Myson, crosses his arms. “We are prepared to loose the Beasts on your command. The enemy may die at Vestra’s hands, or be ripped to shreds. I care not which.”

“You would be wise not to underestimate King Dimitri and Professor Byleth, Myson. They have overcome the Death Knight himself. Your Beasts do not compare.”

“Feh.” Myson gestures to the vial. “Then we will stop them here. Decorate the throne room with the corpses of our foes. You know what is required of you.”

She gently squeezes the vial in her gloves, rolling it between her fingers as the sounds of battle approach. The world she has dreamed of was in her grasp, but slowly she has lost her grip. Has she faltered somewhere? Should she have fought harder, demanded more, been ever more desperate? Was there a moment she lost the nerve to rule?

The plan between her fingers is a last resort. A scheme concocted in private, the greatest secret in a palace that is built upon them. It was fit to shock even Hubert von Vestra, and she can recall his eyes widening even now.

“Lady Edelgard, think of your own safety. And if you will not, think of the world your actions are shaping. It needs you.”

For a moment, things are clear again. She turns to face Myson, preparing to return the vial.

“Edelgard! Edelgard!”

As the doors to the throne room swing wide, her heart catches in her throat. Petra limps inside, bruised and bloodied, her eyes wide with fear. Leaning over her shoulder, blood pouring from a wound in his chest, is Hubert.

Hubert, who stood at her side only hours earlier, his familiar grimace faltering in a way only she could see. He had known this could be his last battle, and so had she, but she had hoped. That was a mistake.

She is at his side in moments, her fists clenched as she drops to her knees. Petra lowers Hubert to the ground, and now Edelgard can see clearly.

His dark cloak is torn to shreds in the center, the clear mark of a serrated blade leaving a cut that is no doubt fatal. The markings are familiar, she has seen them time and time again at the Academy. When Professor Byleth leaves a training dummy, their weapon always leaves the same signature. Where she had once found it fascinating, the devastating power of a Hero’s Relic, it now raises bile in the back of her throat.

“Hubert…” she whispers, and he opens his mouth to respond. A faint, choked gurgle emerges. It is not a sound fit for the Imperial Spymaster.

Hubert von Vestra is dead before the words can reach him. For a moment, despite the din of battle that surrounds them, despite the snarls of unholy beasts that are loosed upon the vacated castle, everything around Edelgard is silent.

“Edelgard…” Petra begins, sorrow on her face.

“Leave us.”

The princess quietly obliges, and Edelgard rises to her feet. The faces of the fallen drift through her mind, and try as she might, she cannot recall a time when they were not corpses. Even in her memories of the academy feasts, she is dining next to a Ferdinand with a lance through his chest and a Bernadetta who lacks an arm. The world, Edelgard has come to realize, is a cruel and terrible place, full of cruel and terrible people, and change will only come if she is willing to take the plunge.

Perhaps a mere human could never reforge Fodlan.

She pours the vial’s contents down her throat, her vision never leaving Hubert’s mangled form.

There is no taste to it, no temperature. It slides down like water, and only a faint tingling in her body serves as proof it once existed.

“Excellent. I shall prepare the defenses.” Myson departs, and Edelgard walks to her throne.

Should her foes already see her a monster, she will show them just how monstrous she can be. Beneath her skin, the twin crests begin to glow a deep red.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! I've been struggling with some Writer's Block for the final chapters of LotD. Often I find working on something else helps to relieve that, so when a discussion in a chat I saw turned to Edelgard's portraits and her "worried" expression only appearing on her preskip model, I started thinking about when that might come up postskip.
> 
> I think what has to be perhaps the most impactful moment of her story we don't see on screen is the decision to turn herself into the Hegemon Husk. The character's lowest point, her greatest risk, all that really interested me! I wanted to do my best to write a little bit of that.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


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